TJic Frodnct'ivity of lush Food in Oneida Lake 219 



invertebrate fish food, because the carnivorous invertebrates 

 amount to but .03 of one percent of the total number of inver- 

 tebrate individuals living in Lower South Bay. 



As the modifying factors referred to above are either of 

 such a small percentage as to be practically negligible or are 

 inadecjuately known, the object sought will be to ascertain 

 simply the total number of fish that the invertebrate bottom 

 animals of Lower South Bay will provide food for, based on 

 the number of invertebrate animals computed to be living in 

 this bay during the month of July. 



The examination of the full stomachs and digestive tracts 

 of 13 Oneida Lake fish indicated that each fish consumed on 

 an average 11 5.4 invertebrate animals in a certain period, here 

 arbitrarily placed at 24 hours (this does not include the inod 

 of the young fish nor of typical plankton eaters). I'his abun- 

 dant food supply is probably available for but nine months 

 of the year (March to November inclusive), and is probably 

 reduced (by hibernation, or in egg stage) in amount during 

 the winter months. To make a conservative estimate, as there 

 is little information regarding the winter food of fish, it will 

 be assumed that food is available in the same abundance as 

 recorded during July for nine months of 275 days. This 

 would indicate a total consumption per fish in one year of 

 31,735 individuals of the invertebrate fauna. If this is a fair 

 average, then the Lower South Bay area of 1,164 acres would 

 support 244,455 fish. It has been shown, however, that 20 

 percent of the food of fish consists of detritus and plants, and 

 another 20 percent of small fish, and allowance should be made 

 for this in calculating the number of fish the food indicated will 

 sustain. These figures therefore indicate a total possible fish 

 population of 407,425 in 1,164 acres or 350 fish per acre. The 

 average applied to the whole of Oneida Lake indicates a total 

 population (51,200 acres) of 18,270,000 fish. What relation 

 these figures bear to the actual fish population of the lake is 

 not known as no figures are available for comparison. 



